November 8, 1895: X-Rays Discovered (I am Still Waiting for the Glasses!)

A Brief History

On November 8, 1895, German physicist Wilhelm Roentgen (or Röntgen) discovered what has become known as X-Rays. In an experiment with electromagnetic radiation for which he won the 1901 Nobel Prize for Physics (the first ever awarded), Roentgen both produced and detected the electromagnetic rays that were originally named Roentgen Rays in his honor.

Digging Deeper

Only 2 weeks after discovering X-rays, Roentgen devised a method of taking a picture of the skeleton of his wife’s hand on a coated plate, the first “X-ray” picture in history. The implications for medical use were apparent and almost immediate. Roentgen also quickly determined that the metal, lead, would stop X-rays and provide a shield from them. By December 28, 1895, he had published his first paper on the subject, revealing to the world his fantastic discovery.

Not exactly out for his own profit, Roentgen did not patent his inventions and he donated his Nobel Prize money to his university (Wurzburg). Unfortunately, he went bankrupt in the ruinous economy of post World War I Germany. When he died in 1923, his personal and professional correspondence was destroyed, lost to history forever.

In a fateful twist, Roentgen had planned on emigrating to the United States to take a position at Columbia University, but the outbreak of World War I prevented the move.

Of course, the world of medicine quickly embraced the new technology and X-ray machines have become an essential part of medical care. It is hard to calculate how many millions of lives have been saved by these images.

X-rays have not been without dangers of their own, as people not properly shielded from them can develop various cancers caused by the rays damaging human cells. Over the years, this danger has become better understood, and proper shielding of technicians and patients, along with reducing radiation to the minimum necessary to produce quality images had lessened the danger. The old (1950’s) shoe store X-ray machine that showed customers how their foot fit in a shoe were discarded as medical hazards!

Of course, not only medicinal uses for X-rays exist, as a host of other scientific and industrial uses are also employed. Everything from checking welds to examining ancient mummies, to screening air travelers’ luggage. X-ray vision has become a staple of science fiction books and movies (think Superman), but the one thing that never became reality are the X-ray glasses once advertised in comic books! How disappointed were the millions of kids not allowed to order a pair, and the millions of kids that did order a pair that found out the glasses were a scam (kind of like “Sea Monkeys” that were really Brine Shrimp).

Wihelm Roentgen deserves a spot in the Pantheon of Scientific Heroes for his incredibly important discovery during the early age of electronics. He deserves credit for seeing past the mere discovery and developing the method of taking X-ray pictures and their implication for seeing bones inside a living person.

Question for students (and subscribers): Do you have a favorite X-ray story? What famous X-ray picture can you think of? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.

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